KEY POINTS:
New York is a long way from North Yorkshire, yet today both places will be holding their breath over the most prestigious awards in American theatre: the Tonys.
Nominated for Best Play, and a further five Tonys, is a work that began life funded by a £1000 ($2598) Yorkshire Arts Grant in 1995 and premiered in front of 90 people at the Georgian Theatre in Richmond, before embarking on a tour of village halls across the north of England.
Now 13 years later, nominated for best play is The 39 Steps, an adaptation of the a John Buchan novel, originally performed with just stepladders, planks and a big sheet.
